Brighton Soup networking event and a puppet show among city projects to receive National Lottery funding

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The funding is part of the National Lottery’s 25th anniversary celebrations and successful projects received up to £1,000 each.

Projects benefiting from the total £2 million made available include Pegasus Puppetry and Arts, which received £600 to develop a puppet show aimed at young people with learning disabilities and young refugees.

Four people or groups will benefit from the £1,000 funding granted to Brighton Soup, which will give them an opportunity to pitch ideas for small local projects.

Pitchers and guests discuss ideas over a bowl of soup, building connections in the process.

An audience votes for the winning project which will be awarded with donations and other funding.

Will Anjos, from Brighton Soup, said: “These events will not only give people the opportunities to develop or continue their fantastic local projects, but also bring residents together for an inter-generational, fun night out, all centred around people doing good!

“Thanks to this National Lottery funding, we can continue our run of successful events, and can’t wait to hear people’s ideas for improving lives in their local community.”

Other projects that received funding include Brighton Fringe, Gaydio Brighton, Brighton Permaculture Trust, and the Valance Community Centre.

Senior head of regional funding at The National Lottery Community Fund, Jon Eastwood, said: “It’s fantastic to see people’s love for their communities inspiring them to use National Lottery funding to make great things happen – we’ve been blown away by all the great ideas.

“#CelebrateNationalLottery25 is supporting a wide variety of projects across the UK this year, all bringing people together to show the huge impact that can come from small ideas.”

The National Lottery Community Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK and is responsible for giving out money raised by National Lottery players.

More than half a billion pounds was awarded to 12,000 UK community projects during 2019.

More information about the community fund can be found at this website.